Collection
by aznillusion183
Summary: 300-word stories written for the onepieceyaoi100 community.
1. Frozen

It had occurred to Ace that he was the last free elemental.

To be more specific, he was the last Logia user left to his own devices—of course, now that Crocodile was in Impel Down, that no longer applied, but he had been a government dog anyway. The others all worked for the World Government, save Eneru—Smoker, Kizaru, Blackbeard, Aokiji.

Ace laughed as he floated freely on the air, rising on hot currents and whipping out lazily at the last Marine vessel to have challenged him. He landed lightly on the island that he had been moored at, finding a solitary figure waiting for him on the ground.

Ah, Aokiji.

"Hello, Ace-kun." That chilly voice sent shivers delightfully down his spine. So cool; so calm and collected.

"Aokiji," Ace purred.

The Admiral merely cocked his head inquisitively, folding his arms. Ace burst into flame and flared at the man, running fiery tendrils up and down icy limbs that had once been solid flesh, and hot blood.

He wanted to make Aokiji melt in his arms, at his touch. He wanted those lazy eyes to dilate in pleasure, and have that tall, lean body lose its smooth composure. Ace firmly believed that Aokiji could have so much more potential, if only he would leave the confines of Marine life.

"I insist that you cease this frivolity," Aokiji suggested softly, with a hard edge in his voice. A sharp ice blade thrust at his face, punching through and melting in a sheet of fire.

Ace had a long way to go before Aokiji's icy heart would thaw for him.


	2. Reflection

It had been a long time since they'd last seen one another—after countless squabbles and petty arguments, it was only a matter of time until they had the Fight. The one that was too big, too deep, too painful to ignore. _He_ had refused to take Sanji along on his voyage. There was no other large, warm presence to accompany him; no safeguard against loneliness, no reprieve from the stretches of boredom on the sea.

He had been left behind, and that was that.

Sanji went up to the crow's nest. It was _his_ favorite place—for sleeping, undisturbed, for training, for meditation. Even after all these years, it was still undeniably _his_.

Even if _he_ was no longer with the crew, but out hunting the one with the Hawk Eyes.

There was a large object hanging on the wall that had not been there during _his_ time on the ship.

The Mirror of Erised.

The object that reflected one's true desires.

Sanji braced himself, as he did every time, ever since the day Luffy had found the mirror and brought it onboard. It had been part of the One Piece; Luffy had not hesitated to bring it on board, seeing it only as a normal mirror.

The only one to discover otherwise was Sanji, for he was the only one to have seen anything other than his true reflection.

He touched the ancient glass lightly, eyes closed, heart aching. Finally, he could stand it no longer, and his eyes flew open.

There he was, wide-eyed and pale.

Behind him, with strong, tanned arms wrapped around Sanji's shoulders, was Zoro. There was that cheeky grin, those rough fingers tenderly wiping away the tears on his face, chapped lips brushing gently against his cheek.

Sanji broke down and wept, alone.


	3. Makeup

Sanji was tired of running.

Oh, he hasn't always been running. When he was on the Thousand Sunny—and the Going Merry, but speaking of the Merry always brought back unbidden (and unshed) tears to his eyes—he had pranced for his ladies, cooked for his crew, fought with his—cough, fought with _the_ swordsman. He had smoked, walked with dignity, flirted. Okay, he had occasionally run when the moment called, but he found that it was a bit unseemly.

But now, he found himself flat-out sprinting for his fucking life.

"Hey! You're one of _us, right?"_ a flirtatious voice called out after him, promising him massages and sex and all sorts of unwanted goodies. Yes, shockingly, sex was unwanted from this particular breed of femininity. "Come back! Kyaaa~!"

"Hell, no! Get away from me, you freaks!" Sanji shouted over his shoulder.

Sanji regretted his womanizing tendencies, just this once. He had approached those shapely figures in the mist of the hot springs, and found a horrible image burnt into his head forever.

It was like Bon Kurei all over again. Except naked. And with more groping.

More than he _ever_ wanted.

One of the burlier ones pounced—caught—trussed him up.

The relatively prettier ones grinned triumphantly, wielding cosmetics that hadn't touched his skin since he'd committed to the manly Roronoa Zoro, who wouldn't even consider it drunk.

---

When the rest of his crew found him, miserably sipping tea on a pink toadstool, he knew that it was just his luck that Zoro saw him first.

He was never going to be able to make up for his loss of manliness in the swordsman's eyes. He raised a leg threateningly, but…

"No fighting. I don't want any of that makeup shit on my swords, cook. Or my face."


	4. Song

"If you don't _shut up,_ I'm going to run you through right now."

"But Zoro~!"

"No buts, Luffy. I can't concentrate with all this racket."

When silence filled the air, Zoro sighed in relief. Luffy had almost made him hate one of his most beloved pastimes. Usopp had long run away after teaching Luffy this particular ditty, and Zoro fully intended to make that man's life hell once he was pried out of whatever hiding place the sharpshooter had chosen.

Suddenly taking a deep breath, in a cracked and off-key voice with gusto, Luffy began again at the very beginning…

"Nothing to it, then," Zoro grumbled, rising with a very peeved expression on his face as he approached his 'singing' captain. "C'mere, Luffy."

"Nooo!" Luffy wailed, scrambling to get away.

Zoro caught his nimble captain mid-Rocket and tugged him roughly by one rubbery arm.

"Zoro—mmrmph!"

As he felt Zoro deepening the kiss, Luffy thought that it wouldn't be so bad to keep singing 'Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall' every once in a while.


	5. 60 Seconds

She ran, her legs aching and her lungs burning from exertion, the dust flying in the air, the pain of potential loss. She could feel the pain that her nakama had endured, could see their pain as they fought for her cause.

_No!_

Two sets of hooting laughter, and she knew she was close.

_I can't let anyone die!_

The countdown to save Arabasta had begun. Sixty seconds until her world vanished.

---

He was the master of his domain, and the strongest in his hot climate, where lesser men would struggle or perish. He loved to soar on the hot wind drafts, and to see the land he held so dear at peace.

At the moment, the city was a hotbed of chaos.

He could see the clock: 45 seconds.

"_We must protect Princess Vivi at all costs,"_ Chaka had said.

Pell smiled.

30 seconds.

_For my country, my princess…and my dearest,_ he thought to himself, _I will take this._

He saw Vivi's face as she stared in wide-eyed astonishment as he flapped his wings furiously, straining at the burden called gravity in his body and at the pain called loss in his soul.

Five seconds.

He didn't have the breath or energy to comfort her any further; there was no time.

As the last few seconds wound down, he looked jubilantly to the sky as he felt a sudden pressure under his wings.

Zero.

His last remaining thoughts were _Chaka, take care._

_I'm sorry I didn't get to say good-bye._

---

Chaka looked at the fresh flowers he had lain on the grave—a rare commodity, in this arid desert—and sighed heavily before turning around and closing this particular chapter in his heart.

He must be strong enough for the both of them, now.


End file.
